by India Lee
“Close the door!” Amanda squeaked, jumping up as Liam pushed through. She tried to close it for him when he froze, but priority soon went to catching her towel, which unknotted when she sprang to her feet. His eyes didn’t even attempt to avert as the towel drooped down one side of her body like a toga. She gathered it hastily.
“Close your eyes!”
He was laughing. “Okay, okay, sorry.”
“Stop smiling!” Amanda ordered as she wrapped her towel back around herself. She couldn’t be sure if she had exposed a boob or not, but regardless, she was mortified. “Oh my God, this is why you’re supposed to knock, Liam!”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry. Can I open my eyes now?”
“No!” Amanda darted into the bedroom to get dressed. “Fine, now!” she shouted once she was safely out of view. Red-faced and standing before the full-length mirror, she opened her towel to get a glimpse herself of what Liam had just seen. Ugh, why, God, why? Her stomach was far from flat and as had been the case since high school, her right boob was bigger than her left and dotted with a heart-shaped birthmark. Well, I hope I flashed that one, she thought while simultaneously calling out, “I hate you!”
Liam laughed and quickly countered. “I hate you. Like I needed this after what you did to me on Wednesday.”
She paused. They both did. It was the first time they had acknowledged the fiery kiss since it happened. It made her stomach twist in a knot. What was he saying? That her size eight body actually had the power to torture his libido? And had he still not slept with anyone to relieve his frustrations? Amanda stood clutching her towel in the middle of the room as she tried to think of a response. To her relief, Liam cleared his throat to break the silence.
“Anyway, I got the part in A Soldier.”
She blinked. Amidst being walked in on naked, she had completely forgotten to ask about the audition. “Oh my God, yay! I knew you would!” she called out the door, thankful for a change of topic. But when she finally emerged clothed – in a slouchy, off-the-shoulder sweater and jeans – Liam still had his lips bit back like they’d been when he was shielding his eyes from her slipping towel. His expression made Amanda look down at herself to make sure she wasn’t suffering another wardrobe malfunction. She wasn’t.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She crossed her arms. “You saw boob before, didn’t you.”
“Maybe.”
Amanda heaved a sigh and shook her hair into her face to cover her flushed cheeks. Liam Brody had just seen her naked. Awesome. He was probably comparing her body to those of his former girlfriends – the Victoria Secret models, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girls. The mere sight of a boob had probably reminded him of how much he missed model boobs on model bodies. She hoped more than anything that while gasping in shock before, she had inadvertently sucked in her tummy. It was still kind of puffy from yesterday’s excessive sitting-around-and-doing-nothing-while-eating-three-meals-of-delivery. She grimaced at herself.
“Don’t look like that, I was just joking. I didn’t see anything, really,” Liam said, subduing his amusement as he squeezed her bare shoulder. Amanda removed it so he didn’t feel her shiver.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Fine,” she sighed, pulling on her jacket. “Let’s just go so I can drink a ton of alcohol tonight and forget this ever happened, okay?”
Liam grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”
~
Going to Lilac made the night feel like an anniversary. A month ago, they had visited the same spot for their first date together. Then, Amanda had nearly suffered a panic attack over what to wear, Liam was pretty much a complete stranger, and he had spent a decent portion of the night ogling the hostess. Five weeks certainly made a world of difference – as did the extremely strong drinks that Amanda downed before even getting seated. The memory of Liam walking in on her naked swiftly washed away with the help of two vodka martinis.
It was quickly reduced to something just vaguely embarrassing at the back of her head, and was easy to ignore with the hostess providing so much entertainment. It was the same girl that Liam had winked at and flirted with on their first date, and she seemed hell-bent on recapturing his attention. Despite being seated in a corner booth far from anyone else, the girl consistently made her way over to do something or another in front of their table. In her skintight, black dress, she had even gone as far as dropping a menu in front of the table and bending over slowly to pick it up. The move had only been good for making Amanda giggle though since Liam was for some reason preoccupied with running his fingers along her sweater and picking at the pills. She figured he was tipsy, being on his third bourbon since he agreed to out-drink her. Amanda couldn’t help giggling at the tickly feeling of his hands on her body.
“Okay, I think I’m going to have to give you permission to check this poor girl out,” she slurred a bit, laughing. “She’s about to explode trying to get your attention.” Liam simply shook his head, his free arm around her as they sat in their booth. He had draped it over her shoulders after the flirty hostess’s second trip to their table, for which she had no purpose besides “checking in” and flashing Liam her brilliant smile. “She probably has a bet going with her coworkers that she could get you to wink again. You’re going to make her lose money.”
Liam shrugged, his strong arm giving her whole body a tight squeeze. “I only have eyes for my girlfriend,” he said, giving her a kiss on the side of her head.
“Aw, you’re like, such a good boyfriend,” she said in a ditzy voice.
He laughed. “I’m serious. I don’t have any interest in checking her out.”
“Welp. She’s not getting the message,” Amanda said, tossing back the rest of her drink and leaning her heavy head into the crook of his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered and widened. She could feel his hard muscles on the back of her neck. He must’ve been doing soldier-type training for the audition, she mused as she bit her finger.
“Well, what do we need to do to get the message across?” Liam asked. Amanda wondered if she was imagining the wicked smile she heard in his voice. There were a lot of things she could think of that would get the point across, but feeling up Liam’s muscles probably wasn’t an appropriate thing to do in a restaurant, even a dimly lit one. Amanda bit her lip back nervously.
“I’m sure this will do.” She leaned up and gave him a hasty peck on the cheek.
“Mm, okay. One-second kiss on the cheek. Definitely gets the message across.”
“I’m not going to make out with you in public. That’s super un-classy.”
“But that’s what we did on Wednesday.”
Amanda’s stomach did a little dance and a nervous giggle bubbled from her lips. Okay, so we are going to talk about this, she realized with a little thrill. It would be a lie for her to say that she didn’t actually want to talk about it, and now was a better time than ever to since she had liquid courage on her side. She tilted her head up at him. Only then did she notice that his stubble had grown back out a little, and it looked cute on him. “That was behind a curtain,” she said. After a gulp of her martini, she pressed her pointer finger into his chest. “And you were the one who kissed me first.”
Liam plucked her finger off of his chest and held her hand in his. “You told me to,” he said.
“Did I?”
“Maybe not with words, but…”
It was true. That night, she had cast a look that had pretty much demanded a kiss. Thinking back, Amanda was fairly impressed with the fact that she had successfully given bedroom eyes. Perhaps she wasn’t as hopeless in the sexy department as she’d thought. “I think you just wanted to kiss me,” she teased, peering up at Liam from behind her martini glass.
His voice was at a low murmur now. “You wanted me to kiss you,” he countered.
She scoffed. “Well, I didn’t ask for you to pull my hair.”
“And I didn’t ask for you to grab my package
.”
Amanda’s mouth opened and closed, unable to think of a response. He glanced at her expression with amusement and took a drink.
“But I was definitely okay with the fact that you did.”
She blushed. And she had been more than okay with him pulling her hair, but she wasn’t about to admit to it. “Speaking of molesting you,” Amanda blurted. “Did you ever tell me what exactly Megan did to put the moves on you?” she asked, hoping to deflect attention away from her flaming cheeks.
“Oh man. I didn’t.”
She bounced excitedly in her seat. “Wanna share?” He chuckled at her excitement.
“Not really, but I will for you.” Liam grimaced as he recalled the memory, trying not to laugh. “Well. She kind of held onto my face and tried to stick her tongue in it, but I was like this.” He pursed his lips tightly and flashed Amanda a look of wide-eyed terror, making her giggle. “And since I wouldn’t let her into my mouth, I got pretty forcefully licked, and that’s when I ran out to look for you. I was traumatized. And then you yelled at me.”
Amanda burst out laughing. “I know, I’m sorry,” she said, watching her hand involuntarily move to rub his shoulder. His skin felt warm underneath his sweater, just like her whole body did. He closed his eyes for a second. “I just didn’t want her to have the satisfaction of… doing anything with you.”
He put his hand over hers. “Well, you didn’t have to worry about that. I couldn’t have found her less attractive.”
Amanda blinked at him incredulously. “Megan? Please. I still find her attractive.”
“Unless you’re hinting at a threesome, I’m never going near that girl again.”
“Ew!” Amanda smacked him, awakening from her tipsy haze. “Like I’d ever sleep with her if I swung that way! That girl’s still out to ruin my life.” Liam raised his brows.
“Good. Angry sex is the best.”
“Liam!” She smacked him again, harder this time. “If I didn’t want her getting any satisfaction from you, I sure as hell wouldn’t give her any myself.”
He bit his smile back. “I think you were actually being possessive of me that night because you like me. Deep down. Like, like me like me.”
Amanda’s stomach lurched at the suggestion. She snatched her hand from his shoulder and tried to scoff. “Yeah, no. I do not like you like you.”
“Fine, then I don’t like you like you either. But I do like you.”
She gave a long blink. “I’m too drunk to follow this conversation anymore.”
Liam took her martini glass from her and finished the drink. “Basically, you’re not the wet rag I thought you would be,” he grinned, mussing her hair.
“That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, thanks.”
“It’s a compliment, technically.”
“I don’t think so. Try again.”
“Alright.” He smoothed her hair back down and looked at her, his lips slowly curling upward. “I’m glad I met you,” he said a bit softly. She had to lean in to hear him. “You’re fun. And I can tell you’re an incredibly loyal friend, not just from how good you’ve been to Ian but how good you’ve been to me.”
Amanda raised her eyebrows slowly. “That’s… actually pretty sweet of you,” she said, though once the words escaped her lips, his eyes grew mischievous again. “But you’re about to ruin it.”
“No. I was just going to say that you’re a good person and I can see your heart.”
“Aw,” she cooed, clasping a hand to her chest.
“And by ‘heart,’ I mean your birthmark.”
Amanda’s jaw dropped, the hand on her chest promptly flying out to smack his repeatedly. Her heart-shaped birthmark. He had seen it, and thus everything else. He had seen her entire naked body. “You said you didn’t see anything!” she protested, high-pitched. He was too busy laughing to try to defend himself from her blows.
“I’m sorry, I lied. I was trying to make you feel better.”
“You – ugh!” Amanda burned hot from being both drunk and mortified. She crossed her arms low over her stomach, which she was sure had further expanded after her entrée of Chilean sea bass and risotto. It felt more bloated than ever.
“Stop, people are staring,” Liam laughed, gently uncrossing her arms for her. Amanda huffed. “Come on, don’t be like that.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you see me naked too,” he offered. Amanda finally relented and laughed. “There we go,” he grinned, touching her dimples. “See? No big deal. It’s not like I’ve never seen a naked woman before.”
She managed a smile. But you’ve never seen a real naked woman before, she wanted to say. But she didn’t. Instead, she just sighed and leaned into his hand, which held her cheek. Despite closing her eyes, she could still feel the wait staff staring at her. They must think I’m a freak, she thought, though before she could delve too long on the idea, she felt something else – Liam’s lips.
They kissed hers softly. Her mouth parted to gasp in surprise, but then she felt the flicker of his tongue. The sensation calmed her in a strange way and she kissed him back, letting him lean into her body and pull her legs onto his lap. She felt hidden by his broad frame, free to let both hands trail from his chest down to his abs. He had a six-pack under his sweater – she hadn’t known till she felt it. As her hands planted themselves in that nice little spot, his found the groove in her back that he always used to usher her from paparazzi. She had to admit to herself that she’d always liked the feeling, the warmth of his protective hand on her back. Though of course, it had never felt better than it did tonight.
LIAM & AMANDA: HOTTER THAN EVER FOR EACH OTHER!
Celeb-o-Matic
February 7
Despite recent rumors of jealousy and public spats, Liam Brody and Amanda Nathan proved that they’re still going strong – stronger than you’ve ever seen them in fact! America’s favorite couple was spotted dining at their preferred hotspot, Lilac, celebrating Liam’s successful audition for the coveted role of John Parker Camden in the upcoming Terrence Rambis film, A Soldier.
Witnesses say that the two seemed totally unaffected by the recent drama of their celebrity friends Casey Mulreed and Ian Marsh, showing all the signs of being madly in love! Flirty whispering? Check. The inability to keep their hands off of each other? Check. A make-out session so hot and heavy that they had to leave before dessert? Check! And apparently this time, Liam had eyes only for Amanda – sorry, sexy hostesses, these two are here to stay!
I thought my ceiling was flat.
Amanda blinked up at the fancy, coffered ceiling above her. There was even amber-hued light beaming out from the edges of the recessed panel. She admired the pretty glow. It gave off such a sexy and sophisticated vibe to the bedroom that was not hers.
“Oh my God!” Amanda shot up in the bed – the sprawling, California King-sized bed with its incredible Swedish mattress and massive down comforter. It was unfamiliar to her. She looked around the room – the cherry wood floor, the cowhide tile rug, the framed artwork on the wall. Everything in the room was completely unfamiliar to her – everything but the person in bed with her.
“Liam!” Amanda squeaked. He lay on his back beside her, his face turned to her and his lips slightly parted as he slept. One hand rested on his stomach while the other stretched out above his head. His raised arm made the muscles in his ribs protrude, and Amanda’s eyes involuntarily locked on them for a moment despite her anxiety. She couldn’t help it. She’d never seen him naked in real life, and it was a hell of a lot more breathtaking up close and person. His upper body was bare, his lower half hidden beneath the comforter. “Omigod, omigod…” Amanda whispered to herself, eyeing the edge of the sheets. She prayed that he was clothed under there. Sweatpants were preferable but even boxers would do. Oh shit, what about me? Only then did she think to wiggle out of the sheets and look down at her own body.
“No!” she hissed with disbelief at her bare legs. All she wo
re were her striped cotton boy shorts and a large, white T-shirt that smelled like a fresh bar of soap. It no doubt belonged to Liam. “This didn’t happen. This did not happen,” she murmured to herself. She didn’t do one-night stands. They weren’t her thing. She was very deliberate and calculated when it came to sex – not just anybody was allowed to venture down there, not even Liam. Least of all Liam. He would judge her, and suddenly, his judgment mattered a lot to her.
She tried desperately to work past her splitting headache and recall the prior night. We went to dinner, we got really drunk at Lilac and then… what happened after Lilac?
“Amanda.” Liam’s hoarse voice interrupted her thoughts. Amanda froze. Slowly, she turned to face him as he stirred in bed and groggily propped himself onto his elbows. The comforter slid down his body and Amanda exhaled slightly when she saw that he was wearing black basketball shorts. Still, it was nerve-racking and surreal to be waking up in bed next to a shirtless Liam Brody. Her eyes remained wide and fearful as she waited for him to say something, anything that might shed some light on the situation. Unfortunately, he was in no rush. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times before finally stretching and releasing a sigh of contentment. “You were amazing last night.”
“Oh my God.” It happened. Amanda slapped her hand to her forehead as her heart began to pound. “Oh no, Liam…”
“I mean, I was amazing too. Naturally.”
Amanda stared at him, horrified. He stared back for a second and then burst out laughing.
“Yeah, I’m kidding, Amanda, we didn’t have sex.”
She gaped at him a second longer before grabbing the pillow from under his head and swinging it hard into his face. “Jesus Christ!” She yanked it back only to see him still laughing jovially, his hair now sticking out in different directions. “Please explain!” she snapped.
“We didn’t sleep together. There was no…” he yawned. “… oh man. No sexual contact whatsoever.” He rubbed his face. Amanda continued to stare, trying to decide which of her hundred questions would be the first to sputter out.
